The Football Manager series (formally Championship Manager) is one of the most enduring video game franchises around. The management sim is entrenched in football culture (soccer, if you're on the other side of the pond). You can't talk about a promising young footballer in the pub without one of your friends claiming, "I knew he was going to be good; I bought him on Football Manager a couple of years ago."

Sports Interactive, owned by SEGA, has been developing the Football Manager computer games for quite a few years now, and it's built up quite a following for the UK-based developer. Right on cue, the new Android version of the game, Football Manager Touch 2017, has been released.

Just last week SEGA published Football Manager Mobile 2016, a version of its long-running soccer management sim that skips out on fancy graphics in order to make it play nice with older hardware. Now Football Manager Touch 2016, a more high-powered version with full 3D simulated football matches, has joined it. SEGA's naming scheme is a little convoluted: Touch is more of a high-end game than Mobile, though both of them support mobile hardware and touch controls.

It's also much more expensive. FMM2016 wasn't cheap at $8.99 plus in-app purchases, but Football Manager Touch 2016 costs a whopping $19.99... and yes, it still has in-app purchases, up to $6.99.

Considering the last year of events in the NFL, my usual cheeky poking of soccer fans would probably be in bad taste. After all, when one of the most visible "managers" in America's version of football is Jerry Jones, a man who would probably punch a baby in the face while he ate a puppy sandwich if it meant he could win a Superbowl, I'm in no position to take jabs at The Beautiful Game.* So, for all you football fans who dream about managing a World Cup team, SEGA is back with another entry in its endless Football Manger series.

Don't let the name fool you. Football Manager Classic 2015 isn't an old version of the somehow-popular series of soccer/football coaching titles. You're not in for a nostalgic dose of pixelated graphics (in this case, that's what the regular entries are for). Football Manager Classic 2015 hits Google Play with 3D visuals, more players, and more languages. In short, it's closer to the PC version of the game.

Football Manager Classic 2015 supports less hardware than the most recent Football Manager Handheld. It only runs on what the developer considers high-end tablets. Note that while devices such as the NVIDIA SHIELD, Nexus 9, and LG G Pad 3.8 GPE are supported, the 2013 Nexus 7 is not. Check out the full list of devices to see if your tablet is compatible.

Are you ready for some football?! Oh, it's the other one? Like with kicking and feet and an actual ball? Well, I'm sure most of the world outside America is totally stoked. Football Manager Handheld is one of the premiere soccer/football simulation games, and the 2015 installment is now on Android. It's going to cost you, though.

American football fans, sit this one out. Sega's latest game is geared towards the other kind of football, the one that, you know, people actually play with their feet. This popular series turns soccer fans into managers of their own professional club. From the confines of their Android device, players can manage most aspects of running a team for $9.99. Yeah, that's a bit pricey for a mobile title, but calling the shots doesn't come cheap, even virtually.

Players get to build a club from scratch, trade players, manage the media, and deal with the board. This may not be everyone's idea of fun, but not all of us are wired to kick the ball into the net ourselves.

Apparently there was some sort of iThing announced today. It does apps and stuff, which is nice. But you don't have that kind of mobile thing – you've got the other one. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have apps and stuff. We have some sales to help you out with that.

With college football nearly over and the NFL ending just a month or so afterwards, pigskin fans are... oh, wait. This is the other kind of football. Sega's Football Manager franchise has long enabled obsessive compulsive soccer fans to live out their somewhat sedate dreams of managing a pro club. It looks like the developer is giving the handheld versions the same yearly release cycle that the console and PC games enjoy - as well as a nice price bump up to $9.99. Hey, it's a business, not a sport.

Leagues from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and Wales are represented, as well as newcomers from Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Back in April, we reported that SEGA released Football Manager Handheld 2012, a game that allows you to simulate what it would be like to run a soccer football team. Of course, I honestly couldn't tell you five differences between futbol and handegg, so I may not be the best judge of how fun these games are. Then again, I used to play a game where I pretended to be the owner of a large hotel. To each his own.

The game offers pretty in-depth control over your team, including the ability to set and change line-ups, expand your home stadium, and even go scouting for new talent.